Overexpression of AtAAP1 increased the uptake of an alanine-chlorantraniliprole conjugate in Arabidopsis thaliana

Transporters play an important role in the uptake and redistribution of agrochemicals to the site of insect feeding. The product of the Arabidopsis thaliana gene AtAAP1 substantially contributes to inorganic nitrogen acquisition under ecologically relevant amino acid concentrations. Here, the transporter ability of AtAAP1 to a chlorantraniliprole-alanine conjugate (CAP-Ala-1) was tested both in planta and in vitro. Thirty-day-old and 15-day-old plants overexpressing AtAAP1 increased the uptake of CAP-Ala-1 into the roots, whereas AtAAP1 deficiency did not completely block the uptake of CAP-Ala-1. An uptake experiment carried out in Xenopus laevis oocytes expressing AtAAP1 showed that CAP-Ala-1 interacted with AtAAP1. Although little native AtAAP1 transcription was present in the leaves, constitutive expression of AtAAP1 in plants significantly increased the ability of the leaf mesophyll protoplasts to take up CAP-Ala-1. The observations supported the possibility of exploiting AtAAP1 as a component of a novel delivery and redistribution system for amino acid-based pesticide conjugates.